Falling Faces
by Liauno
Summary: Face has sone trouble getting his mind in order after an accident.


Sometimes memories work in a funny way. For whatever reason, I remembered an occasion in my childhood where one of my best friends slipped while we played. She landed square on her back and for a frightening long moment couldn't move. (Luckily, when that had passed she was completely fine.) This is what my mind made from it:

Falling Faces

The mission was almost over. The Team was currently hiding behind some bushes close to a single cabin in the woods. They had traced the bad guy up to this place. Here was his hideout. He was now inside there with five not to heavily armed guards feeling safe and sound. That feeling would leave him rather sooner than later. All the Team had to do now was to wrap the guy and the evidence they had collected so far in a nice package and put a bow on top and a card that reads 'courtesy of the A-Team'.

"Ok guys, this one is a piece of cake."

"Arghh Hannibal, would you stop saying that. Anytime you do something goes wrong."

"Don't worry Face. I have a plan."

'Yeah, sure. And your plans are known for working perfectly well. And it's usually one of us that gets to pay the price and not you.' Face only thought that part not able to say those last words to his colonel, the man who had stood by him since he was a teenager. The first person who had not had enough of him after a short period of time. He trusted Hannibal. Although his half cooked planes got them in trouble more often than not he had kept them all alive for a really long time. Face would whine about Hannibal's plans but he would never criticize him too much since old experiences have put a deep fear of being rejected in him which up to today he has not completely overcome. Instead of saying anything he settled for rolling his eyes dramatically.

"He is in there with one guard. There are four outside, two to each side. The place has no back entrance. The guards are all muscle without brain. They will run like rabbits once they get scared. We don't need them. Let them run off. Only if they decide to come to their bosses help we will bundle them together with him."

'Oh great, we are in the woods, 30 minutes run from the van and one hour run from the next civilization with 5 loose guards that can change their mind anytime and turn on us as we get away from here. Anyway, we will deal with them when it comes to it. Hannibal usually has a good knowledge of people. They might actually run off.' Again Face kept quiet. Only the expression on his face showed that he did not like that idea too much.

"Murdock, you go left. BA, you take the right side. Face you climb up this tree. When we are all in position Face will fire some shots close to the guards to the left and right. That will distract them enough for you two to get the drop on them. I will go in through the front, deal with the last guard and wrap our jerk of the day in a nice party wrapper. Face, you stay up that tree and provide cover for us until I give the all clear sign and we run back to the van. Remember, the information will be given to the police by our clients in exactly one hour from now. We have to be out of here before they come."

"Face will give away his position with those shots. It's dangerous." That was BA speaking.

"Don't worry BA. The branches will give me cover from view from the position of the guards, plus they will be busy with you guys."

"Don't like it man. Watch out."

"Okay guys, we are under time pressure here. Let's go."

The plan went off without a hitch. Three guards run like rabbits, two decided to stay and fight which earned them a place next to their boss, nicely bundled up. Murdock had really brought a bow and fixed it on the jerks head. With 20 minutes left, Hannibal gave the sign for retreat. They had to run to make it to the van before the police showed up but they would make it without problem since the police would also need about 30 minutes to drive to the cabin.

When Hannibal gave the signal Face started to climb down as the rest started to run. Face had to get down first and he also was at the side of the cabin. They did not think there would be reinforcements but anything was possible. Therefore they decided not to hang around for any longer than necessary. The three of them would run straight from where they were while Face would take a different route from his point. They would then meet at a pre arranged clearing about 10 minutes from the cabin.

One of the guards that was supposedly long gone by now was actually hiding. He had spotted Face's approximate position and was waiting for his chance. When Face started to decent he gave one silenced shot and run off, sure he had hit the target. Unfortunately for him he had concentrated on Face only and run smug into BA who quickly finished him off.

The guy was not a good shot and only hit the underside of Face's shoe. However, that caused Face to lose his grip on the tree and he came tumbling down. Face landed square on his back. When the darkness lifted around him there was silence, only the birds were singing. Face needed a moment until it came back to him where he was and why he was there. The next thing that registered was the fact that he couldn't move and panic set in.

'I can't move, not at all. Why am I down here, oh nooooo, I must have fallen. Did I fall asleep? Where are the others? Shit, I screwed up, I was supposed to cover them. What if they are hurt, or dead, I let them down. Why can't I move? My head hurts so. I have to help them. How? I'm useless to them now. Nobody will even find me here.' All this thoughts rushed through Face in a few seconds. Then, all in a sudden he could move again. He hurt all over but everything seemed to work.

'I have to help them; I have to look for them.' With that thought in mind Face got to his feet and started towards the cabin. All was quiet. He could see the traces of fight but nothing moved and more important, no Team members could be seen. He stepped into the cabin and found the bundled up goons.

'Oh, they finished the job and took the time to leave a note and a bow, cute. That means no one was hurt or they would have been in a hurry. But then why did they leave me behind? Oh no, I screwed up royal this time. I didn't cover them. They have no use for me anymore, can't trust me to have their backs. Probably think I can't even move, how would they know I can move now? I'm a burden to them, they just left. My head hurts so. Why did they leave? They said they never leave a man behind. They have had enough of me just like all the others before. Oww, why does my head hurt so much?'

"Colonel, we waited for more than five minutes now. Face had the shorter route, even with climbing down that tree we should have arrived here around the same time."

"I know Murdock. I waited 'till I saw him descending before I started to run. He looked fine to me. I don't like this at all. He does not answer the radio. My gut tells me we should have taken all of the goons out instead of scaring three of them off. I hope I'm wrong."

"Two actually, one run into me as we took off. I took him out."

"Okay, let's split and head back. I'll take the route Face was supposed to take. Murdock, you go straight back to the cabin. BA, search for any signs of someone leaving the track. Did anyone hear any shots?"

" No man, but now that you say it, the guy I took out had a silencer on his gun."

"Shit, hurry up guys and stay in contact through the radio." With that they hurried of in search of their missing friend.

Murdock hurried straight back and first checked the tree Face had climbed up. He found his pack with a broken radio lying outside but no sign of Face.

"Hannibal, I found his pack under the tree, the radio is broken, no blood though."

"Go check out the cabin; see if our bundle is still there."

"Face, what are you doing standing here? Are you alright? Nothing leaking out?"

"Murdock. What…why did you come back? Yeah, I'm fine."

"Hannibal, I found him. All is quite. We head back to the rendezvous point, meet you two there."

"Let's go Face. No time like the present."

"Where?"

"Huh? Get out of here? Police is on the way?"

"Oh, yes. Let's go then." Murdock run off and Face started behind him. He didn't really know where he was going and his vision was like a tunnel. He screwed up before but following Murdock he could do. Now that Murdock had come back for him maybe not all was lost. The police, ahhh he remembered the tight schedule, and Murdock had to come get him meaning he had slowed them down in addition. This was getting better and better.

They reached the rendezvous point and Face was totally out of breath. His whole body was on fire and his head was about to explode. BA growled something that sounded remotely like 'where you been man'. Without a second to rest they took off running towards the van. When they reached it they could already hear sirens. Though the van was hidden it was still parked in a way that would allow a fast exit and could therefore be spotted from the street. They just made it deeper into the forest and out of sight before the first police cars passed.

BA turned around and glowered at Face. "What took you so long man?"

"Couldn't move."

BA was getting more irritated by the short answer that didn't make any sense to him but Hannibal stopped him.

"Not now. Wait 'till the police have passed and then let's get out of here. Hopefully we make it to the main junction before the MP's arrive. We have to change our route and take some back roads. We are too late. The highway would be too risky."

They were all concentrated on the road and anybody following them until BA had put a somewhat safe distance between them and the little town close to the cabin. Hannibal had noticed that all was not right with Face and figured by the pack and the broken radio that he had fallen of the tree. He anyway saw that he was not too bad of since he was able to run all the way to the van. Now that the rush was over he wanted to access the damage. He turned his seat around so that he was facing the Lieutenant who was currently studying his hands.

"Face." No reaction.

"Face. Look at me Lieutenant."

'Uh oh, here we go. You screwed up Lieutenant, you are a danger to this team …' Now Hannibal's hands were on his chin lifting his head.

"Face, did you bang your head kid?"

"Huh?" That got his attention but also threw him off balance. "No. Yes. I mean… I don't know."

"Look me in the eyes Face."

The road was very bumpy and suddenly a renewed wave of nausea that had just been fighted down hit Face. "Colonel I…uhmm…I don't feel…" and with that he vomited all over Hannibal and BA's precious van.

"My van." was the last thing Face heard before he passed out.

"Well, that answers my question too. He has a concussion. Let's find a place to clean up this mess and make him comfortable. Then I want us to head for a remote motel to allow him to rest and get through this concussion."

"We crossed a river about a mile back. We could head down to the bed and wash the Van, just like we did to the Cargo bay of my chopper in Nam. And then we get a cabin so Face can rest while we fish or camp."

BA was a bit ashamed to have been growling at Face and caring for his ride when he should have noticed something was wrong with Face but could not help to growl at Murdock, "You ain't going to poor water in my van fool", after all Face was out of it and couldn't hear it and with any luck had not also heard him complain about pucking in his van.

"Let's head back to this river. Right now I'm more concerned about getting myself cleaned than whether you get water in your van."

BA decided it would be wise to keep quiet on that and get moving, which earned him more harsh words from Hannibal.

"What do you think you are doing? Face will fall off his seat on this terrible road. Get to the back here and help Murdock settle him on the floor, unless you want me to help and distribute the puck further."

Without another word BA came to the back, arranged some makeshift bed and helped Murdock to settle Face down. They then made their way to the river and found a place close to the bed of the river that could be reached with the van. Hannibal got out first to clean up and change clothes. In the mean time BA arranged some blankets on a patch of soft grass to allow them to clean and change Face without causing him too much jolting around on a hard floor. With Murdock's help he had him settled and a set of fresh clothes ready by the time Hannibal came back.

"Okay. Murdock and I will clean Face. BA, clean the van. We are not too far yet, no need to hang around longer than necessary. Come on Murdock, let's strip sleeping beauty and hurry up. It's a bit chilly and the water is cold. Don't need him to catch a cold in addition to this concussion. Top or down?"

"I'll take top." With that Murdock got to work on Face's jacket, shirt and singlet while Hannibal got to work on the rest of the clothes. BA, who looked over from the van called out, "Look at his shoe, something wrong there."

"That was probably this silenced weapon you saw. Shot went clean through the heel of the shoe. He was lucky. I guess it happened when he climbed down, he lost his grip and fell. That's how he got the concussion."

While they were examining the shoe they heard Murdock gasp. He had just removed the singlet and had revealed dark bruises all over Face's back plus some on his abdomen and chest. "Oh my god. Not so lucky in the fall. He must have hit some branches before landing on his back. And he has quite a lump on the back of his head. "

"How did he run in his condition? I could have carried him."

"On adrenalin sergeant plus the concussion probably helped in not thinking better of it. That tree had branches big enough to cause this bruises only on the top part. Means he fell from quite high up. " Whiles talking Hannibal checked the now striped Face over. "At least 3 cracked ribs, and a sprained wrist. Plus his body jerked when I pressed down on the right kidney. Must hurt like hell to get this reaction when he is not even awake. We have to monitor his urine. Now let's get him dressed up, his body is shaking with cold already. Forget your cabin idea Murdock. I want to be close to a doctor, just in case. We get a bit away from here and then find a motel in a small town."

When Face was ready to go Hannibal tried to wake him. "Face. Face, wake up." Slowly two confused eyes opened.

"Cold."

"I know, you will be warm soon. BA will carry you to the van."

A slurred "can walk" was all the response before he passed out again.

"Sure you can kid. BA, get him in the van. We have to wake him every hour for now and ask some questions, until he gets a bit more coherent."

After a number of more tries to wake Face up and some incoherent answers they finally made it to a little motel in a small town with a hospital and a number of exits, should it become necessary to run. They got two adjoined rooms in order to be able to take turns in sleeping and sitting with Face without disturbing each other. Face had gotten more coherent in his answers with time but had at no point managed to stay awake for longer than a few minutes. Hannibal was getting worried.

"It's been 48 hours since he first passed out on us. I'll give him another two hours. If he does not stay awake for longer then we will take him to the hospital."

Two hours later Hannibal went through the now established routine again. "Face, wake up. Come on kid, open your eyes. Yes, that's it. And now tell me your rank and serial number."

Face closed his eyes and shielded them with a hand against the light. "Ahh, Hannibal, leave me alone. You know my rank and also my serial number. Besides we are not in the army anymore. And now put of that light, my head hurts and it's in the middle of the night."

Okay, that was new. So far he had given his rank and serial number, with some help or rather force drunk some water, and quickly passed out again. Whining was progress, if not the most desirable.

"No Face, it's actually bright daylight but I can close the curtains for you. Just don't go back to sleep yet."

"What time is it? And where are we. My god, my head hurts so. I hope it was a good party at least."

"It's about 2 days and some hours since you fell of that tree and we are at a motel."

It all came back to Face in a rush. The tree. He was supposed to cover his team and fell out of the darn tree. His heart started to beat faster. 'Hannibal is here. They left me behind but Murdock came for me. I saw BA when we were running to the van, no one got hurt. Do they just want to make sure I'm alright before I'm thrown off the Team or have they decided to give me a second chance, well actually it's not the second anymore, I screwed up before but never like this. Never let them down in a mission. Maybe Murdock talked Hannibal into coming back for me, but Hannibal is here. There is still hope, maybe if I talk to him, apologize…

Hannibal feared that Face's lack of response had something doing with his concussion. The way he had his eyes clenched tight told him he had not gone back to sleep. He tried again, "Face, say something."

'Okay, apologize Peck, try to get on his good side again, or at least on a leveled place away from the edge.' Face tried to lift himself on his elbows but quickly decided it was not a good idea. Before he could fall back to the cushions Hannibal had a hand under his head (which, he now realized, was about the only thing he had managed to rise) and helped him to lie back slowly.

"That's not such a good idea. You are bruised all around and have a bad concussion. Just talk, don't move. We can raise you with some cushions"

"Hannibal, I'm so sorry. I don't know how I fell of that tree. I…" There was a loud noise in the other room. From the sound of it BA was chasing Murdock around the tiny motel room.

"I can help you out there. It happened because you follow orders so well, as opposed to those two who were told to keep it down." With that Hannibal got up and went to the other room.

'Oh great, he is still pissed. I follow orders? Not really my best discipline. He is sure going to give me a lecture about how irresponsible I am, falling of a tree when I'm supposed to cover them. Probably fell asleep on the job or got distracted by a woman. How can they trust me again? I'm probably already off the Team. '

Before his thoughts could become darker Murdock entered the room. "Hey Muchacho, the colonel told me you are finally up. Here, drink something." Murdock held a straw (with Mickey Mouse design, no question who did the shopping) to his lips and Face drunk some of the water. Then Murdock raised the glass and looked at it and wrote something on a chart. Face wondered what that was about but didn't get a chance to ask since Hannibal came back into the room. Face readied himself for the speech.

"So, as I said you follow orders too well. You don't remember anything?" A shake of the head as answer, followed by a flinch. That must be one heck of a headache. "What is the last thing you remember?"

"Being on the tree."

"I told you to come down and run. But really you could have taken the time to climb instead of jump. Had I known you suddenly decide to follow my orders without thinking I would have rephrased it."

Sensing the confusion and the fact that Face was not able to grasp what he said, the headache and concussion slowed him down considerably, Hannibal started again.

"We finished the job and I gave you the signal. I waited 'till I saw you climbing down and then I ran. When you didn't show up at the rendezvous place we went looking for you and Murdock found you in the cabin."

"We finished the case? You gave me the signal? I didn't screw up?"

"No you didn't. What are you talking about?"

"But…but…if I didn't….screw up I mean…why did you leave me behind?" Face was utterly confused.

"Huh? Ahh no, Face we didn't leave you behind. You know we would never do that. We arranged to meet at a rendezvous point, don't you remember? Oh no, you don't. You didn't screw up kid, if anything I did. I should never have allowed those goons to run off. Should have listened to you. Turned out at least one of them was not all that sacred. From what we reconstructed one of them hid close by having located your position. The moment you climbed down and came into view he used a silenced gun to shoot at you. Luckily he was not a good shot and only hit your shoe but it made you lose your grip and you fell and ended with a bad concussion plus some more injuries."

Face's mind was working extra slow. 'They did not leave me behind? Sure, Hannibal said I didn't show up, should have caught on to that before asking, stupid of me. He should have listened to me? Oh no, I said that loud?'

"What do you mean you should have listened to me?"

"Come on Face, only because you don't say something loud I still know what you think. After all those years I know how to interpret the rolling of your eyes and the expressions on your face. You might be able to con others but I can read you like a book." Agreed, it was a book with seven seals but he did not need to give that piece of information to Face.

Face blushed at that. His mind still a bit slow was not able to stop his mouth from working. "You mean you are not going to throw me off the Team?"

"Don't be stupid Face. You know that will never happen."

It was like a big stone was lifted from Face's chest. He had not screwed up, had not endangered his team, his family. Now his mind could process the other information.

"Two days? You mean I was out of it for two days? And what about the other things beside the concussion?"

"Well not entirely out but we could not rise you for longer than it took to force some water down your throat." Hannibal answered. "I was about to take you to the hospital had you not woken up now. You have three cracked ribs, a sprained wrist a bruised kidney and bruising all over your back, chest and abdomen. You are lucky your legs escaped any damage from this fall. You had some blood in your urine but only some drops and it stopped after the first day. I called Maggie and she said it should heal just fine. She sends her greetings and wants us to come by as soon as you are able to travel comfortably."

Face processed this information and stumbled about the urine part. Sure, Hannibal said he drunk water so it must have come out again.

"I don't even remember going to the bathroom."

"Well you didn't. The bathroom came to you." Murdock waved a plastic container in the air and Face blushed.

'Oh great, this is getting better and better.'

"Now that that is settled, why am I wearing Murdock's T-Shirt and BA's sweat pants? I have my own clothes in the van."

"You look so cute in those pants Muchacho, just like a kid."

"That doesn't exactly answer my question."

"Well let's say your own all got dirty."

"Murdock, please come to the point. My head hurts and I'm not up for guessing games. We are here for two days. My clothes cannot all be dirty."

"To the point? Okay, you wet yourself."

"I what?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, just twice then we knew how your body would get restless when your bladder is about to release and were ready to save your pants."

Face's head was bright red by now and his ears purple, but Murdock was not done.

"The main problem for your clothes was you could not hold all of the water down and then it got real difficult to write down how much went in and what came out through which way."

Face looked as if he wanted the bed to open up and swallow him and Hannibal felt he needed to intervene.

"That's enough Murdock, go and see if BA needs a hand."

"He already has two. And I need to tell the Faceman. I can't keep it from him."

"Whatever it is, can it."

"But…"

"Murdock, out!"

"Sorry kid. We had to deal with your output somehow."

That sparked another memory. "Oh my good. Hannibal I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… in the van…"

"Don't worry kid. I know you didn't mean to. "

"BA is going to kill me first chance he gets."

"Don't worry about BA. He has been beating himself up ever since he noticed you were sick."

"Hannibal, I suddenly feel itchy all over. I need a bath."

"No problem. I'll just get the water, sponge and towels and…"

"Oh no, you won't. I'm sure this motel room came with a shower and I'm going to use it."

"It came with one but you are not going to use it. You can't even lift your head without pain. Left alone stand in a shower. Sorry you will have to make do with sponge baths and your little makeshift toilet for today and probably tomorrow. Depends on how mobile you are."

"Arrrhhh Hannibal."

"Sorry kid."

"But Murdock will not come close to me with this kids coloring soap and animal shaped sponges. Last time he took so long before washing it off that I ended up with a pink and a green leg, yellow stomach and blue arms."

Hannibal chuckled "That was quite a sight."

Face closed his eyes again and yawned.

"Go back to sleep kid. I'll wash you later. You still have quite some way to recover."

Murdock had sneaked back inside, "No, I have to tell him before he sleeps." With two big strides he was beside Face, "I'm sorry to tell you. It was suicide. "

"Murdock, leave Face alone."

But Murdock didn't listen. "They were together for so long and after one got his brains shot out and distributed all over the bark of this tree the other one took off first chance and drowned himself in a river."

"What are you talking about?" Face and Hannibal asked in unison.

"His shoes of course."

"Murdock, get out of here."

As Face drifted off to sleep he was thinking what a recovery lay in front of him, especially with Murdock in a graveyard persona. But he was just happy to be with his family.


End file.
